In today’s world where instant
gratification is treasured and you rarely have to watch more than a few moments
of a sound bite, it can be hard to stay focused and productive. But keeping yourself focused is necessary to
be productive regardless of whatever task you are doing. If you’re struggling with this concept of focus,
here are a few tips to help you stay free from distractions and get more accomplished.
Set
Up A Physical Boundary. No matter
what environment you work in, setting a physical boundary can help minimize
distractions. If you have an office with
a door, shut it when you need to focus.
If you’re in a cubicle, post a polite sign asking not to be disturbed. Tactfully let your workmates know that you
are serious about your sign and are trying to avoid unnecessary distractions.
If you have a home office, make sure that
your family and friends are aware that when you’re working, they need to
respect that space. It helps if you can
set up your office in a room that isn’t used for other things. But the point is, make yourself some physical
boundary to cut back on the distractions so you can get things accomplished.
Make
a Daily Task List. It helps to get
more done throughout the day if you keep a list of what needs to be done where
you can see it. This can be posted on
your computer desktop, on a dry erase board, or kept on a notepad by your desk. Whatever you find will work best for you and
your circumstances.
Try to have a list with no more than 12
things on it for each day. If you have
larger tasks, keep the list shorter. You
don’t want to become overwhelmed with what you need to do, but you do want a
visual reminder of what needs to be done each day. As you get the “to-do” list items
accomplished, mark them off your list.
Make
the Most of Time Management Apps. If
you find yourself easily distracted by email, social media, and other sites
that are time wasters you may want to take advantage of computer apps that lock
those down. Examples include “SelfControl”
(https://selfcontrolapp.com/ ) [a
free MAC app] and “Cold Turkey” (https://getcoldturkey.com/
) [Priced at $39.00 at the time of this writing.]. These programs will automatically block YOU
from specific sites so that you can’t be distracted by them. You can set a time limit and you can decide
which ones to block or keep free. They
could be just the thing you need if you don’t have enough self-control over
yourself to avoid these types of distractions.
Use
a Timer. It’s impossible to be
completely focused on a task for hours at a time. You may find it helpful to set a timer for 25
minutes that will allow you to stay focused for that time. Then give yourself a five-minute break to get
a drink of water, walk around a bit, or just take your mind off of work so that
you can feel refreshed.
Dividing work into smaller chunks can keep
it from feeling overwhelming and boring.
It can also keep you from feeling like procrastinating on a big project
that will be time consuming. This can be
especially helpful if you are working on a larger project and have hit a “snag”
in your process and just cannot see your mistake which is right in front of
your face. At times, walking away for a
few moments will give your eyes and mind a better perspective when you return
to the project.
Do
the Worst Tasks First? For some
people it’s helpful to just get the worst tasks over with before getting on
with the rest of the day. This is a good
solution for procrastination and leaves the rest of the day free for the tasks
you enjoy. You will generally find one
of two things to be true (or perhaps both): (1) The task was not as “worse” as
you thought it to be, and (2) The task doesn’t take you as long to accomplish
as you thought it would. You might come
to find out that, in time, you’ll come to actually enjoy some of those tasks
that you, at first, thought you would hate!
Just remember, there will still be those tasks that you HATE,
but are necessary to do!
You will also find out that, as with most
things in life, YOU will be your greatest roadblock. You may at times find that YOU are
actually putting things in the way of your being successful in getting your
tasks done. There’s that one simple
reason for this that we inevitably tend to overlook: we’re only human!
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"Sometimes you can be so focused on the thorn
that you can't enjoy the rose!"
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